Children in Muong Te District in northern Lai Chau Province wash their hands at a stand pipe.

Dang’s comments conflict with many comments that we often hear when children talking about their school’s restrooms.

An inspection by the Ministry of Education and Training in 14 cities and provinces in 2008 showed that more than 3,000 out of 11,000 kindergartens, primary schools and secondary schools had either no toilets or facilities which were sub-standard.

Dang is luckier than other children because his school has recently renovated its restrooms, thanks to financial help from the parents’ associations.

"We proposed this idea of raising funds at a parents’ meeting at the beginning of the school year. No-one was opposed to it because we all know it’s important for our kids to have clean and nice restrooms at school," said Phan Thanh Dam, head of the parents’ association.

According to Dam, the old restrooms were very old, damp and stank. Renovating them was always the hottest issue at every meeting of the school parents.

"We were all worried when our kids came home and said they hadn’t gone to the school restroom even once during the entire 5- hour school session because it was smelly and dirty," said Dam.

Like many other parents of children who go to public schools in HCM City, Dam said they had wanted to renovate the toilets for a very long time but the school had no extra money to do it.

"It would have taken a very long time for the state to agree to invest money for such a thing so the parents agreed to raise the funds. There are some families who were in a difficult economic situation so we tried to help them in different ways like presenting their children with a gift at the end of the year," he said.

Nguyen Thi Kim An, rector of State-owned Tran Binh Trong school, said, "The school parents were able to raise VND110 million (US$ 6,000) across several semesters. This money enabled us to renovate the school toilets and remodel many other things on campus."

Tran Binh Trong, Chinh Nghia elementary schools in District 5 and Giong Ong To in District 2 are among others that received parents’ contributions in HCM City.

Duong Bich Ngoc, deputy rector of Giong Ong To school said: "With help from the parents’ association, we were able to expand the toilets, make them cleaner, plant more trees and provide music so the pupils feel more comfortable. There is also a changing room for girls of the 4th and 5th grades."

The toilet in Giong Ong To school in District 2 was very small and dirty before. Pupils who wanted to go there during their break had to wait in a very long line.

"It is now very nice and doesn’t smell. I like the music there too," Nguyen Hoang Phuc, a fifth grader of Giong Ong To school said.

In Chinh Nghia school, the entire cost to upgrade, decorate and maintain the school’s toilet was paid by the parents’ association. Rector Dinh Kim Phuong admitted that "Without this help, it would be very difficult for us to make this happen."

There are a total of 470 elementary schools in HCM City in which 435 are state-owned. While the private ones can be more flexible in using their money, state-owned ones are more limited.

Le Ngoc Diep, head of the Elementary Schools Section of the City’s Department of Education said, "we understand that having clean toilets is a crucial issue for every school because it directly affects children’s health. But state money has to be used for other priorities like educational quality or classroom facilities."

Toilet renovating costs are still not listed as a category that should receive state funding. "The department of education itself can’t solve this issue. We need a coherent plan from the state in order to improve the situation," he added.

According to Diep, it is still up to individual schools and their parents’ associations to make school toilets a more-friendly place for children.

(Source: CPV/VNN)